President Obama's "The Road We've Traveled"

“The Road We’ve Traveled” is an aggressively upbeat, 17-minute review of President Obama’s first term. The film streamed live online last night via the president’s savvy new-media reelection machine.

Right Wing Gets What They Want, Then Cries [UPDATED]

I'm sure this is not enough for the racist right wing to get a large portion of stfu. However... Today, President Barack Obama produced a long form Hawaii birth certificate in an attempt to bury the ridiculous issue of where he was born and confirm his legitimacy to hold office to the wackos who were starting to drag independent voters onto the crazy train. Obama declared, “We do not have time for this kind of silliness.” Once again, Obama portrayed himself as the adult in the room, a voice of reason amid a loud, ignorant debate on his birth status. I was listening to The Stephanie Miller Show on my iPhone, via Tune-In (an awesome app BTW) when they cut away from Donald Chump's childlike speech to move on to the President. It was all I could do to not start laughing our loud and applauding when he said, “We’re not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers.” While Obama never named names, it was clear he was speaking of Donald Trump's grand birther BS. Pinch me. In the last couple weeks, the guy I voted for has reemerged. While I still don't agree with his endless "reach across the aisle and lose another finger" approach, he is finally talking like the guy I voted for.

The certificate looks pretty much the same as the electronic "Certificate of Live Birth" version that has been available for view for over two years that the wackos viewed as illegitimate, even though it's the official record of birth in Hawaii. Since the newly disclosed "long form" is typed and hand signed, I fully expect that the next round of criticism to say there's no way to prove it's authentic. My "original" birth certificate is a typed out 3x5 card with way less information than the state of Hawaii presents.

After questioning the man's birthplace for over two years, the hard right goofballs who demanded to see the "long form" and lead by Rush Limpballs are now crying that instead of releasing his birth certificate, he should've released a jobs bill. Funny how they never mention that when the Democrats held the House and passed several job bills, they died in the Senate via Republican filibuster. I really hate these people on the hard right. They are anti-American, they are bigots, they are greedy, they are liars and the worst part is, because they are loud and funded by big biz, our corporate owned media ignores the facts to push their agenda.  The dumbing down of the American people has worked splendidly for them.

Obama releases birth certificate, ripped by GOP

UPDATE (Goldie Taylor reviews history of demanding ID's from blacks in America).

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Aww...Wingnuts Need a Woobie

Aww...poor little teabaggers crying that President Obama spent 45 minutes criticizing Ayn Rand fanboy Paul Ryan's budget proposal when all he actually did was describe it. This is what happens when you don't fight back for 2.5 years, once you do, your opponent doesn't recognize it. They were shell-shocked that he had the audacity to call out their shameful plan for what it is and for that, I'm grateful.

Teabagger math: Destroying Medicare and cutting the top tax rate for the wealthy to 25% will balance the budget! Ryan also wants to bring down the corporate tax rate because the 0% GE paid last year was too high! Are they freakin' serious? Who's dumb enough to think any of this makes sense? The Republicans are liars. And middle-class voters who listen to their rhetoric are idiots. They only care about the uber-wealthy and demonstrate that every single day. I'm 48 years old. Old enough to understand the dire consequences this holds for those of us under 55. We will be screwed if Medicare goes to a voucher system. I won't have the extra $12,500 out of my pocket they're estimating it will cost annually. Michael Steele was on Bill Maher's Real Time Friday night when Maher asked him what happens when the $15,000 voucher runs out which will only take 3 months if you're in assisted living. Steele's response, "We don't know." The audience let out a collective groan and boos, Ed Schultz grabbed his head and Maher's eyes bugged out. I would've posted that particular video below as well, but HBO has already taken it down. Schultz and Steele got into several heated discussions with Steele at one point actually saying, "I'm going to have to take you out back." Good idea Michael, Schultz is a former college football player. Let us know how it works out for ya!
Hey Dems, here's a golden opportunity - Medicare for all and it will be self-funded!

Cenk Uygar hosts' Joan Walsh and Ernie Istook to discuss teabagger math.
By the way, I don't care if the top 1% of income earners pay 40% of total federal income taxes. I want each and every one of them individually to pay at the same rate as us little folks. 35% out of $50,000 hurts a lot more than 35% coming out of $1,000,000. I'm really tired of that argument. I'm also tired of "they're the job creators." Really? 10 years of the Bush tax cuts and we've actually lost jobs. Creating jobs in India and China doesn't count. Hey Democrats, feel free to point that out LOUDLY. I'd also like to know how many of our wealthiest 2% are professional athletes or entertainers, clearly not job creators. Republicans really do want a third world America. Robin Hood in reverse explains it perfectly. Continued below...

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I wonder how long it will take for some right wing genius to pursue a bill that will allow the government to remove The Statue of Liberty inscription," "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door." and replace it with, "Keep out you no good immigrant, nothing's free here, even the air you breathe, you are wretched and homeless. Go home." Just sayin...

Is Obama Finally Getting His Mojo Back?

I know we're going to be diving into campaign season very soon. I also know the Republicans are going to try to hold something else hostage before raising the debt ceiling in June, but this week we saw the President Obama we voted for, and have expected all along. On Thursday, a live mic recorded the President talking to Democratic friendlies about the budget negotiations in what was supposed to be an off-the-record exchange. Railing on the Republicans for trying to sneak in attacks on health care reform and other priorities as part of the budget process, Obama said he told the GOP, “You want to repeal health care? Go at it. We’ll have that debate. But you’re not going to be able to do that by nickel-and-diming me in the budget. You think we’re stupid?’” Welcome Back Prez!



And a related topic...
Wall Street Tells Boehner: Don't mess with the debt ceiling or grave consequences will follow

When Being a Birther Isn't Quite Ridiculous Enough...

Ben Hart, a blogger for Escape Tyranny a website which presents itself as a Social Network Forum For Conservatives, wrote something Glenn Beck/Michele Bachmann worthy. They believe they've detected a smoking gun, an alleged scar on Obama's head.

"Was it a brain operation? Has it affected his thinking? Is he really an alien from another planet, which would explain no birth certificate? We have no proof as to where he was born, to whom, where he came from, or what his national origin is. Maybe he’s one of the androids (a replicant), like in Bladerunner, not really human at all."

Funny how the fright wing can continue to disregard the proof of everything we need to know. These nine photos were posted November 1, 2008. Get over it baggers, he WON!

I'm not quite sure if this is meant to be satire because the right wing is so colossally crazy, but if this is their lame attempt at humor, I would suggest that Ben Hart go back to the drawing board. And if this is a serious observation, holy chit, what's next! By the way, yes this President occasionally hesitates/pauses mid-sentence - do to a complex thought process. He doesn't rattle out the first thought that pops in his head. The last so-called President couldn't even finish a sentence. And any mumbo-jumbo he slapped together was incoherent to non-Texans. As far as the commenters below the article go, it's sadly easy to see how any Republican can ever win with these simple minded morons. While the Republicans rob them blind, take their earned benefits away and scream that Democrats are the enemy of the Republic, they march out and vote against their own best interests.

If you dare, here it is: Escape Tyranny. In other words, Escape Reality.

So Harry and Barack Walk Into a Showroom...

I wanted to share a PDF which contains a list of the Policy Riders the GOP had introduced for the 2011 budget. Greedy Old Plutocrats Policy Riders.
I dare anyone to challenge those of us on the left who have no doubt that Republicans are willing to take food stamps out of the hand of a child or a senior citizen to give more money to a millionaire. I have no way to know at this time how many of these riders Democrats buckled on, but you can be sure they did on some.

Let me offer you all a tip. If you've got your eye on a shiny new Camaro SS which lists for $38K, don't bring Harry Reid or President Obama with you. You will proudly walk out of the showroom after some intense negotiating with the keys to a shiny new car which ended up costing you $65K. In addition, instead of the 5-year drivetrain/3-year bumper-to-bumper warranty, you agree that it will be cut to 2 and 1 respectively because the salesman persuades you that the 5/3 will place too much of a burden on the service department. But you continue to negotiate! Instead of the 5.75% rate for a 4-year loan, you will be pay 9.50% because you've been convinced that what's best for the dealership will be what's best for you. You will demand a full tank of gas, but are told they'll put in enough to get you home. So you counter, demanding a half tank, they say a quarter tank and you walk away satisfied that you negotiated the best deal possible. But hey, be proud, you've got that hot new Camaro SS so a victory can be claimed!!! Time to schedule another haircut...

*GOP graphic depicting
the 'liberty killing' party, 
courtesy of my friend Tracy Knauss

Dear Eric Cantor,

This is how a bill becomes a law...



Today, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said at a press conference that Republicans would consider the Government Shutdown Prevention Act on Friday. The bill would make H.R. 1 law if the Senate fails to pass a measure “before April 6” to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year. H.R. 1, which passed the House but has gone nowhere in the Senate, would fund the government through the end of September and seeks to cut $61 billion in spending.

Someone (where are you Boehner?) should've tapped him on the shoulder and reminded him that the House and the Senate both have to pass it, and the President has to sign it. I guess he thinks any two votes count. This is the guy who led the reading of the Constitution when the Republicans were sworn in as the majority in January. Gosh, he's young enough to have watched Schoolhouse Rock! This shouldn't be that hard, people.

Disillusioned and Disgusted: Obama Caves Again

According to the Washington Post, Obama has caved to the Republicans once again. While he cited growing concerns about the budget deficit, he decided that all federal workers will have to endure a two year stay on their wages. Look who's excluded: military personnel, government contractors, postal workers, members of Congress, Congressional staffers, or federal court judges and workers. The military personnel should be excluded, and them alone. However once you look at the list it's pretty clear that the middle class federal workers are taking the screws. Watch his next announcement be that he's going to extend ALL Bush tax cuts including those for the wealthy for another two years. Want to make a wager? Not giving these folks a raise will save $5 billion over the next two years, but adding billions to the deficit for the rich --- no problem! That apparently seems like a fair trade-off to President Benedict Arnold.

Obama said "Getting this deficit under control is going to require some broad sacrifices and that sacrifice must be shared by the employees of the federal government." You see, the only people who will be required to sacrifice during these tough times are the middle class. The wealthy are the job creators (in India) so we can't make them pay their fair share or even the amount they paid during the Clinton years. Why, why that would mean one or two fewer luxury cars for those nice folks and we can't make them suffer like that. That would just be cruel!

John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, blasted the announcement, called it what it was; "a superficial, panicked reaction to the deficit commission report. This pay freeze amounts to nothing more than political public relations." Gage said in a statement, suggesting government nurses, border patrol agents and other personnel are being unfairly targeted for Democratic election losses. Bingo Mr. Gage.

Democrats got slaughtered because of the appearance that nothing was getting done. No where does this administration acknowledge that Republican obstructionism was the biggest culprit, but yeah, let's throw the baby out with the bath water. Democrats never learn, they really don't. They didn't lose for being "too liberal," they lost for not standing up for their principles and explaining the story to the electorate. By the way, the progressive caucus stayed mostly intact, it was the blue dogs who will be going back to private life in January. You would think someone on Obama's staff might have noticed that little fact.

It's amazing what the minority party has been able to do for the past two years. Just wait until they have the majority in one branch come January. You won't even realize the Democrats still are still in charge of two branches because they'll be slinking away at every turn. Disillusioned, disgusted and hoping for someone who really works for the people. Mr. Feingold, are you listening?

It's Time To Stop Pretending There's A Liberal Media

Where to begin, where to begin...  On October 30 Comedy Central comedians Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert hosted a rally: Restore Sanity/Keep Fear Alive. It was a three hour event with over 250,000 in attendance far eclipsing the 87,000 who attended Mormon Glenn Beck's Beckevangelist Event on August 28. The 30th was a beautiful day, an awesome line-up of musicians were assembled to entertain the excited crowd. Lots of smiling faces, a lot of good humor and like I said a lot of good music. All in all, a wonderful day. As the event was concluding, Stewart spoke for about 15 minutes on how we can restore sanity and here is where my issue begins. In my heart of hearts I believe Mr. Stewart who I have very high regard for went overboard in trying to prove he's a middle-of-the-road guy. Yes, he said some incredibly powerful things that are applicable to all, "But we live now in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies." Yet he also wanted to equate equal blame to both sides and this is where I take issue. FNC has spent nearly 15 years dividing this country with loud personalities telling us that liberals are Marxists, communists, anti-American, etc... A montage played in the background of Fox's most egregious personalities alternating with snippets of MSNBC hosts. What Stewart failed to mention was that the Fox hosts are "keeping fear alive" and the MSNBC hosts are trying to "restore sanity," by debunking the myths perpetrated by the likes of Fox. While Stewart himself has portrayed the Tea Party as racists, and I believe a large portion of them are as we've all seen their signs; he took aim at Ed Schultz for doing the same thing and then claimed that it's an insult for people to not see the difference in the tea party and actual racism. Sorry Mr. Stewart, that was a total BS comment and something that you're also guilty of. As a matter of fact, Jon has actually told Fox to "f#%k off" on a few occasions. Does the MSNBC gang ever go over the top? Sure they do, but they remain grounded in the world of reality. I know, I know some will claim it's because I view the world from their viewpoint and while that may be true, they're not constantly being dinged for making stuff up and when they do get something wrong, they own up to it and apologize. At the end of the day I found myself wondering what the reactions from those on the montage would be and it was pretty much as I expected. Here goes:

• Keith Olbermann tweeted respectfully, what he does is not the same, but in a gesture toward “lowering the volume" in news coverage, suspended his "Worst Person in the World" segment.
• On Monday Bill O'Reilly claimed that after Tuesday nights election, all the MSNBC hosts were going to commit suicide.
• Rachel Maddow said well done to Jon Stewart (she was noticeably absent from the montage).
• Glenn Beck said it was the equivalent of a high-school play; it was not good and referring to much of the rally as nonsense.

Guess which side understood the message...the side not responsible for the insanity.

So along came Tuesday's mid-terms, the Democrats were crushed in the House. We're now looking at having an angry, orange, alcoholic named John Boehner third in line for the presidency. I hope President Obama on VP Biden have the good sense to not be going out for hamburgers anymore. The crazy teabaggers won 34 seats I believe. I am so discouraged by our electorate who continue to vote against their own best interests. The Republican Party has a lower favorability than the Dems by 8 points, but they put Republicans back in power because they're mad the Dems who couldn't fix an 8 year disaster in 21 months. If they'd been paying attention they'd know the gridlock was the Republican senate filibustering everything congress passed. I guess the guy we lost in the senate who will be missed by liberals is Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. The man is a straight shooter who was outspent 4 to 1 by billionaire Ron Johnson as Feingold does not take special interest money. He was painted as a rubber stamp for Obama and Pelosi and nothing could be further from the truth. He said no to many bills because they did not go far enough and he'll always have my personal thanks for having the good sense to vote against The Patriot Act all those years ago. Then there's reduce the deficit idea Reps ran on, but they're ready to immediately add $700B to it by extending the Bush tax cuts for not just the middle class, but those struggling Top 2%ers. I know it's been suggested that this country goes through cycles, but we've never had a black president and his election has sent many people totally over the edge. I have true fear in what Republicans can and are willing to do with an unjustly terrified electorate. Sidenote, at the end of Tuesday evening all MSNBC commentators were accounted for and doing well.

Then Friday came along and brought forth another stake through the heart news for liberals. MSNBC suspended Keith Olbermann for making contributions of $2400 each to three to Democratic candidates without obtaining prior approval from his superiors. Keith told his bosses he didn't know he was barred from making campaign contributions. Now he and Phil Griffin are playing the who's is bigger game. Griffin wants him to apologize on-air for his mea culpa and he's resisting. My guess is part of Keith's hesitance is that Joe Scarborough donated $5000 to a Republican congressional candidate in April as well as taking place in a fund raiser for that candidate. Can't really blame the guy, seems like a double standard. Even Bill Kristol thinks this suspension is absurd. Rachel Maddow seemed to be in an uncomfortable position Friday as he is her mentor and friend.  She stated that it is NBC/MSNBC policy to get permission for donations first, but the point has been made, put Keith back on the air. She's getting slammed this weekend from Keith supporters for a milquetoast response, but she's really in a tight spot. I'm sure she would've liked to stand in solidarity and not do her show. I would've been proud of her for that as well, but folks need to understand she's still a "kid" in this arena. She doesn't have millions socked away where walking away is an actual option. This is her dream job. I get it when conservatives lack the empathy to put themselves in someone else's shoes, but it's one of the things I believed set us apart. When the dust settles, maybe Keith and Phil can go on the air together, issue a joint statement and donate a "fine" to a charity like the Free Health Clinics. I can't believe MSNBC really wants to lose it's biggest star unless this is a nod to Comcast in what the future holds after their acquisition, which I'm not at all happy about. Hopefully we'll see him reappear sooner than later. At around 3:30 today he tweeted, Greetings From Exile! A quick, overwhelmed, stunned THANK YOU for support that feels like a global hug & obviously left me tweetless XO

Also worth reading: MSNBC's Disgrace by Senator Bernie Sanders

And to wrap up my week of political downs, Friday night Bill Maher at least stood in agreement with my Restore Sanity Rally opinion. Here is the New Rule:

Clinton Believes Obama Should Have Struck Back Sooner

Chris Matthews interviewed former President Bill Clinton in what I thought was an excellent interview...amazing that Matthews finally showed some respect and didn't continuously interrupt! I wish Obama would've asked the former president for advice at some point in the last 20 months instead of allowing the Republicans to control the dialogue. I just hope it isn't too late. Just thinking of the senate and congress full of teabaggers, John Boehner third in command with Mitch McConnell as majority leader makes me ill. Democrats, liberals and moderates, listen up --- maybe we've been disappointed in more than a few things that have not been done, but we can not go back to not just the GWB years, but mix in some Andrew Jackson!  On November 2nd, get out and vote!

Restoring American Values That Never Existed

August 28, 2010 will be remembered as nothing more than the day an egomaniac wanted to redefine what that date represents in history. He tried to steal the historical date of Dr. Martin Luther King Jrs. "I Have a Dream" speech at the time we have our first black president. The Faux Networks' very own preacher, Glenn Beck and his klan (reported at as many as 87,000) decided that they've had enough (of that black, guy). Let's not kid ourselves, Beck's little "Restoring Honor" assembly was nothing more than a rally for those who still can't get over the fact that the black guy won. If this was any more than a disingenuous little gathering of pissed off teabaggers, I'd like to see proof of it. If this "awakening" was legitimate, why wasn't what they want honor restored to, made perfectly clear? What topics could they have covered? How about addressing two more than questionable presidential victories in 2000 and 2004? How about questioning the incompetence of George W. Bush when he failed to read any memo's or reports, the latest delivered on August 6, 2001 that warned, "bin Laden Determined to Attack" which led to the largest attack on U.S. soil. How about questioning invading a country that had no ties to Al-Qaeda, but sure had a lot of oil? How about indignation at the SCOTUS ruling that corporations are citizens and can donate as much money to political campaigns as they want thereby deciding the elections? How about how the U.S. violated the Geneva Convention with torture? How about thinking about how far we've fallen as a state-of-the-art country slipping towards third world country status? But no, while most of the Beckerheads obeyed their leader and left most of the signs home, that didn't stop them from blaming liberals for ruining the country even though the last true liberal running the country died November 22, 1963. Oh yeah, but letting terror suspects buy guns is groovy...seriously! One guy suggested that even though Obama hasn't come for his guns...yet, when he does, he'll get them one bullet at a time (if someone said that about Bush, they'd have been arrested). Well, watch the video for yourself and notice the diversity (NOT!):



Since "God" must not have anything to say through Psycho Glenn yesterday, he plagiarized Obama, King and others. Beck's speech was a mishmash of ramblings of a demogogue and sociopath. It wouldn't bother me so much if so many people weren't buying into this garbage. These people believe Obama is a manchurian president (because they saw the movie, not because they understood the meaning) and a whole bunch of other things they don't know the definition of like socialist, marxist, nazi, etc... They believe he's part of The New World Order for christ sakes!
In my mind, when these hateful, undereducated hypocrites say they want to restore "traditional American values" they're saying they want to go back to the 50's (at least). White men in charge of everything; women are to be a chef in the kitchen, a harlot in the bedroom, and an incubator; blacks go back to second class citizenry with separation; gays keep their mouths shut and marry someone of the opposite sex, live miserably just to conform to Becks version of Christianity or Mormonism (since I don't even know what the hell he's selling). And the Hispanics? Well, they weren't such a big issue "back in the day." Let's just go back to Mayberry --- which unbeknownst to them, never really existed. He mentioned that we're a Christian nation and that sends me through the roof. We are not, we are not, we are not! How is it these supposedly strict Constitutionalists can't interpret the god damn first amendment where it clearly states:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

These people are only strict Constitutionalists for the parts they like. They're the same people who cherry pick the Bible for quotes to justify their hatred of gay folks, but eat shellfish, wear blended clothing, but would be appalled if someone actually stoned their disobedient children to death. You see, when I went to catechism, a sin was a sin, there were none more egregious than others. I still don't believe being gay is any more a sin than wearing blended clothing, so I guess I'm a rebel.  The problem liberals have and always will until we have a true awakening of our own is that we try to do things in a well reasoned, politically correct manner trying to take into account everyone's beliefs. Conservatives are like a giant bulldozer who will wreak destruction on anything they don't like because they just don't care. We must stop being a Prius to their Caterpillar heavy equipment. These teabaggers are taking the country down a road the early settlers and founders clearly did not intend. Furthermore, this is not a grass roots effort. These believers are being played. It's been widely confirmed that the multi-billionaire Koch brothers are funding this anti-Obama movement with Dick Armey heading it up. History needs to be taught to these buffoons. The Pilgrims who left England and came to this land, came here to be free to practice their faith. They were forced to practice the State mandated religion of the Church of England. Now here we are in 2010 and radio clown Glenn Beck, abominable snowbitch Sarah Palin, crazy Michele Bachmann, scary Sharon Angle, fruity Rand Paul and doesn't wear heels Ken Buck want us to recognize Christianity as our national religion. God, if you're up there and listening, don't let them get away with it!

UPDATE: Evidently, part way through the event, Beck asked the gathered honor-reclaimers to take out their cell phones and text "SOF" to #### several times while the C-SPAN camera panned the audience and he teased them with the possibility that this could be the largest number of people to ever do this. After exhorting them to text a few more times he told them they'd just donated $10 to his SOF fund! Their pockets were picked without even a bump! It was masterful, indeed. I wonder how many did it multiple times! Brilliant fleecing of the flock and probably illegal!

Fake President Maddow's Oval Office Address Rewrite

Rachel Maddow rewrites President Obama's Tuesday Oval Office Address as an "in-her-own-head, wish he had said that" speech.  To call this woman brilliant is understated, I wish he had said these things too. 

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Today,  Rachel sat down with the president for lunch at the White House along with columnist Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post, columnist Gail Collins of the New York Times, Gerald F. Seib of the Wall Street Journal and a handful of White House staffers. I would've loved to hear his response to last night's quasi-skewering of his Oval Office Address.  While I'm sure there was some good natured ribbing going back and forth, I'll bet there was some edgy awkwardness too.  No reports as to what they discussed.

BP's Latest "Idea" Underway as Wildlife Continues to Perish

As I type this, BP is attempting the much talked about Top Kill. As I understand it, the top kill involves pumping enough mud into the gusher to overcome the flow of the well. Engineers plan to follow it up with cement to try to permanently seal the well. Evidently it will take couple of days before they know whether the procedure is working. BP told President Obama it has a 60-70% chance of working while admitting it's never been tried in water this deep. Yeah, we can trust BP, they've been so forthcoming and helpful so far. As more and more information about the shortcuts and infighting prior to the explosion come to light, it's clear that a lot of people should be doing jail time when all is said and done.

CBS has caught this depressing footage of a deep sea eel checking out the oil gusher. The animal seemed to be inspecting it before seemingly getting sucked in. I was going to try to write something profound about how the eel can only look on without fully comprehending the magnitude of the impending death pouring forth from that ginormous hole. Then I thought about it and realized that's pretty much what most of us are doing too. I hope that the poor thing will make it after getting into to the oil gusher, although I'm sure his/her chances aren't very good.

The War on the Middle Class Continues...Quietly

I saw a report on the Nieman Watchdog entitled "Has Obama created a Social Security death panel?" this week that has me extremely concerned. Evidently the Obama Administration and the leadership in Congress have empowered enormous and unaccountable authority to 18 unrepresentative, excessively wealthy white men. These guys could quite possibly decide the financial future to some degree for every single one of us. They are the members of President Obama’s newly-formed National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. The fact that they lack any type of diversity is abhorrent, but more worrisome is they lack variance of opinion. While claiming "everything is on the table" (*wink*), one of them is the CEO of a major defense contractor.

One area that they're in agreement on -- targeting programs that help the middle class and those Americans who are the most vulnerable. Erskine Bowles went on record before the North Carolina Bankers' Association saying that if the Commission doesn't "mess with Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security ... America is going to be a second-rate power" in his lifetime. It's been suggested with regard to Social Security that it doesn't affect anyone over 60. Well that's very nice, but what about those of us in our 40's and 50's who have been paying into the system our entire lives? Tough shit? We all knew 20+ years ago the we had to supplement our social security earnings with IRA's and later 401K's after Reagan made it vogue to start union busting and encouraging companies not to offer pensions to their loyal employees. However supplementing something and suddenly losing a decent amount of your own money that you were expecting (and faithfully paid into) returned should be considered grand larceny. At the very least, they should pay us out for our "contributions." I could begrudgedly live with that, even with interest lost - at least it's not the entire "contribution." My guess is that they'll raise retirement age again to a point where they'll be comfortable knowing most of us won't collect a red cent of our own money. Eventually we'll have a society of paupers and wealthy pricks who took our homes when we couldn't afford health insurance or our property taxes as we get older. Maybe I'm cynical, but the rules are skewed to the wealthy who will destroy anything and everything in their quest for power and domination. When will we collectively ask in earnest, how much is enough?

So, that begs the question; Why bother fighting to elect Democrats when they're just more polite versions of the Republican agenda? In some ways it's worse because we got our hopes up..."change we can believe in" and all that jazz. At least Republicans make no bones about the fact that they're corporate loving assholes. Even Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) who I thought was on our side said, “the bleeding-heart liberals have to make real sacrifices to strengthen our nation.” Why? Why can't the wealthy or the corporations make sacrifices? Why do "we the people" allow them to treat every individual as dispensible? Is what we're facing right now due to years of destroying education in this country. People blindly follow their party without questioning their motives. I think the time has come for a real third party, one that really works for the people. I know in time they'll become corrupt as well, but at least "we the people" might get a honeymoon. I'm not talking about Libertarians, they're just Republicans who smoke pot; I'm not talking about the Green Party who just worry about one issue; albeit an important one. I'm talking about a real Independent Party; a party that does the people's business. There are only 2 or 3 current Senators that might fit that mold in my opinion; Bernie Sanders of Vermont, possibly Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and I think Ohio's Sherrod Brown has potential. When they vote no on bills that are sometimes wanted by the Democratic Party, it's because the bills haven't gone far enough for their consituents...not just to say no. President Obama has done numerous things that concern me, but this alleged backroom deal may actually be the most upsetting to date. Apparently the war on the middle class is one that they're comfortable putting into the win column.

Creepy Hannity and Fans Salute Timothy McVeigh

During an epidsode of Fox News' Sean Hannity's program this week which was held inside the Reagan Library (with guests California Republican Congressmen David Drier and Kevin McCarthy), Hannity discussed ways for Republicans to take back power in the mid-term elections. The discussion was filled with such falsehoods, as McCarthy’s claim that President Obama personally, doubled the debt of all 43 prior presidents combined. Then he made a rather startling claim that conservatives won the debate regarding health care. Ok, whatever...let them have their fantasy. Typical right-wing rhetoric that his rabid followers swallowed up without question.

However, what came next was genuinely appalling. He approvingly labeled the Tea Baggers as “Tim McVeigh wannabes.” Using McVeigh, a domestic terrorist found guilty for killing 168 innocent citizens (19 were kids), and injuring more than 600 as someone to look up to is frightening. What's worse, his fans erupted in cheers!



Domestic terrorism is a legitimate threat. Not only does Hannity owe an apology to everyone who was directly affected by that terrible day in Oklahoma City in 1995, how does the right wing get off complaining that the upcoming MSNBC documentary might lead people to compare today's teabaggers to McVeigh now? “The McVeigh Tapes: Confessions of an American Terrorist” presented by Rachel Maddow will air from 9-11PM EST Monday, April 19, the 15th anniversary of the massacre. The film reveals the bomber’s descriptions of the planning and execution of the horrific attack and offers insight into how a decorated American soldier became a dangerous, anti-government terrorist.

I've read a few right wing blogs who are going nuts over this documentary and speculating what it may contain. I don't know if MSNBC's documentary is linking the anti-government protesters of today with McVeigh or not, I haven't seen more than a clip of his confession in a preview, but so what if they are! Look at the right wing rage and behavior sice President Obama's inauguration. In addition, look at rhetoric that right wing politicians are allowing to fester by not denouncing the threats against Democrats. Bill O'Reilly even denied that there is any proof that the teabaggers that Fox proudly sponsors have been anything more than peaceful protesters. Note to Bill, just because Fox refuses to air the footage doesn't mean it can't be found on a variety of sources, most especially youtube! Spitting on congressman, yelling out slurs of all types, threats against the party in power have been embraced by the right wing who still can't get over the fact that the black guy won, and it wasn't even close enough to finagle an alternate outcome. Did this week's arrest of nine members of a Christian militia group called Hutaree that was readying for battle with the Antichrist and who were charged Monday with plotting to kill a police officer and slaughter scores more by bombing the funeral — all in hopes of touching off an uprising against the U.S. government teach them anything? I doubt it. They'll just say it was a few nuts...that most armed militias are really nothing more than responsible, concerned Americans!

Yeah, Hannity and O'Reilly (among others)...keep egging them on for your own ratings, power and money. I will not forgive them (or you) even though they know not what they do. Any basically good person knows the difference between right and wrong. Having a difference opinion in this country was once respected, not a call for arms or incitement. You are feeding the radical fringe whether you want to own responsibility for it or not. This is not a game.

Leaked Document Confirms Republican Scare Tactics

Yesterday, the RNC accidently confirmed what seemed obvious. An internal fundraising PowerPoint presentation was leaked disclosing that the GOP‘s fund raising plan was a simple one and not at all out of character for their party: raise money by capitalizing on fear of President Barack Obama and by promising to save the country from socialism. According to the letter,the small donors who are the targets of direct marketing are described under the heading “Visceral Giving.” Their motivations are listed as “fear;” “Extreme negative feelings toward existing Administration;” and “Reactionary.” Major donors, by contrast, are treated in a column headed “Calculated Giving.” Their motivations include: “Peer to Peer Pressure”; “access”; and “Ego-Driven.” Here's a surprise -- Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele claimed he was unaware of the document. This guy is either really stupid, thinks everyone else is, or a little of both. It's actually kind of comical, it's not just those of us "on the other side" who think many Republican and/or Conservative voters are reactionary rubes...even the Republican officials think that!  They should all give a big fat thank you to Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly for the nightly propaganda feed, thereby dumbing down and scaring their constituents. Every loyal right-wing voter we see on television is a picture of reactionary.  Frankly, this idea isn't a shock. They've been using fear of the "black guy' since Obama was elected. What is somewhat surprising is that they were careless enough that their tactics were leaked and confirmed on a somewhat "official" RNC fund raising document. Let's see if the Democrats have enough brains to use this against them....but don't hold your breath.

Last night on Countdown (guest hosted by Lawrence O'Donnell), Howard Dean appeared to discuss the obvious lack of respect the party has for its own voters. Later Rachel Maddow also took a look at the Republicans latest dip into the world of bizarre with this latest round of hysteria including how they will save the country from “The Evil Empire” which is apparently President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid. They go on to depict Obama as the Joker from “Batman,” while Pelosi is depicted as Cruella De Ville and Reid as Scooby Doo. What will they come up with next?

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Elizabeth Warren, 'The system is deeply badly broken'

Elizabeth Warren, Chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Committee expresses her shock and disbelief that the financial crisis hasn't forced the government to rewrite the rules for the financial industry. This woman really should have a more central role with this administration. Her eye is always on the ball as she looks out for Main Street unlike Tim Geitner and Larry Summers who only care about keeping Wall Street thriving. Truthfully, Obama has been all over the place politically with this hot potato, and if he doesn't realize making excuses for the ginormous bonuses on Wall Street makes him look like one of them, he's a fool. I'm getting confused as to what he actually stands for. I'm starting to feel as though elections really don't have consequences afterall. A couple weeks ago, after the State of the Union address and his question and answer session with Republicans, I thought the dynamic, no-nonsense Obama was back. Now I'm left wondering who he is again. As Warren says in this video, "I truly don't get it."

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One last thing, I would like to add that I like President Obama. I still root for him. As a NE Patriots fan, it would be nice if I felt like I was rooting for the Patriots to beat the despised Colts instead of just rooting for the less despised Jets to beat the Colts.